Scrapbooking Made Easy!

I am soooooo addicted to a free scrapbook program online at http://www.scrapblogs.com/. My friend and colleague, Delana Foster, showed me an awesome scrapbook that she created for her Delta Epsilon Chi student association. I can’t believe how you can choose backgrounds, stickers, etc… and it is all free. When you are finished with your personalized scrapbook, you can order it for $35 or you can turn it into a blog that friends can view online. This is an unreal price, considering how much you would spend at a hobby store to buy and put together a scrapbook yourself. Try it out!

Free file conversion!

Do you ever need files converted into a different format? My daughter got an .mp3 player for Christmas, and I didn't realize that it wouldn't play .mp4 files! So, needless to say, my Christmas was spend converting files.

I hope you will find this website useful. http://www.youconvertit.com/convertfiles.aspx

Sorry it has been so long....

With the holidays, I did not have much time to update my blog. Sorry! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

Dave Ramsey, is one of my new favorite people. You can visit his website at http://www.daveramsey.com/. He is helping me become debt-free, and hopefully a millionaire one day! :) As I was listening to him on the radio the other day, he mentioned GOAL SETTING. I have summarized what he said on the radio below...

I encourage you to set clear, measurable goals for the new year. One key component to goal setting, is WRITING them on paper.

Set goals for your life in the following areas:

• Career (school?)
• Financial
• Spiritual (want to read the Bible all the way through?)
• Physical (don't just say "lose weight". Come up with a specific amount, and a specific time frame)
• Intellectual (do you want to read more books? The average millionaire reads 1 book a month)
• Family (want to spend more family time? family time does not include watching TV)
• Social

One thing Dave always says is "Failure is not permanent." So, whatever is going on in your life, or whatever has been thrown your way....keep a positive attitude and set goals to improve your life.

make a digital story....

Wednedsay night I gave a presentation about Digital Storytelling for the Instructional Technology Student Association at USM. I also demonstrated how to create a movie using a simple, free software -- Photostory 3. You can download it at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx.

Try it out! It is as easy as uploading your photos, typing text, and adding music. Very cool.

I will try to add an example digital story later today.....

Need to send large files?

Often students tell me that they need to e-mail large files, but the school server has a maximum file amount that can be sent through e-mail. Carol Williams, the marketing instructor at Pearl River, told me about a website that will transfer large files over the internet. The website is: http://www.yousendit.com/. The website will keep the file for 7 days, so that the receiver may access the file.

Cool Images...

For the past few months I have really enjoyed playing on http://www.imagechef.com/. The website will create personalized images for you. Try it out!

Xara Webstyle 4 software.

In my last post I raved about downloaded fonts, but I forgot to mention on thing. If you save a document with a downloaded font, other people cannot see the font unless they have downloaded it. That is why I love Xara Webstyle 4. Xara allows you to save fonts into images so EVERYONE can see them! Find the software at: http://site.xara.com/products/webstyle/ it is only about $80. Download a free, 15-day trail to try it out! I even have a tutorial that shows you how to use it at http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w434365/index.html Below is an example of what Xara can do. If you have a MySpace, this software is a MUST!
In the software you can change backgrounds, increase the size as large as you want, apply shadows, and use your downloaded fonts! There is even an application for web design....you can create buttons, navigation bars, dividers, etc... for your webpage!

fonts are the coolest....

Most of you know that I am such a fan of cute fonts. Please go download a cute font; it will brighten your day!! :)

You can download free fonts at http://www.dafont.com/. I also have a tutorial that will give you instructions at http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w434365/index.html.

or, my favorite....

www.kevinandamanda.com

My former Instructional Technology instructor at the University of Southern Mississippi has a wonderful emerging technology blog at: http://scyuen.wordpress.com/

Also, check out his website at http://dragon.ep.usm.edu/~yuen/. There are many helpful websites for clipart, templates, etc. I would strongly recommend his Search Page when you need help finding things online.

Dr. Yuen is my favorite teacher, and I hope to influence my students as much as he has influenced me!

Free Stuff....

I love finding free software on the internet. My main motive in creating this blog, was for me to share exciting links with my students and friends. We have been using Photoshop CS3 in class, and a student told me about a free software download, PhotoScape. Download this software at http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/download.php.

My first picture to play with was a picture of three instructors here at Pearl River, Mrs. Perry, Mrs. Foster, and me.